I awoke with a painful throbbing in my head and hand. My vision swam before me as I cracked open my eyes. I don't know where I am or why I'm here. The last thing I can remember…what was the last thing I remember? Shit.
"Your name?" a voice demanded.
I let my head fall forward until my chin was touching my chest and took a few steadying breaths.
"Your. Name. Now," the voice was getting closer.
My eyelids fluttered open and my vision landed on a woman with a scar running down her cheek. She had close cropped black hair and her eyebrows were turned down with uncontained fury.
I didn't want to answer this stranger with such a personal thing, so I gave my clan name instead, "Lavellan."
Her hand landed on my shoulder roughly, but not enough to hurt in any way. "You walked out of the Fade. I have an army of scared citizens and the Chantry breathing down my neck. Start talking."
"Cassandra," another voice warned from the sidelines.
I turned my head to see this newcomer. She was a red-haired woman with purple attire shielding much of her body.
Cassandra–presumably the surly woman with her hand on me–turned toward the newcomer and hissed, "Leliana, you know we don't have time for this."
"We don't, but shaking answers out of prisoners has never worked before or it would have worked with Varric."
"Varric provided many answers, none I wanted to hear," Cassandra said with a huff.
My voice cut in, my words thick on my tongue, "Where am I?"
"No, you're not the one asking questions," Cassandra argued. "Why were you at the Chantry? What happened to the Conclave? Where is Divine Justinia?"
"That's too many questions," I moaned, my head still pounding. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Fine, get up," Cassandra ordered. Her hands reached toward my own–which I know realized were chained together–and she hoisted me to my feet by the chain. "I will show you what we are dealing with."
She dragged me outside of the dungeon I was being held in, chains rattling as I wobbled from side to side to keep up with her. When the light of day hit my eyes, I thought I would explode with pain. I lifted my bound hands to block out some of the light and give myself time to adjust.
Beside the light, the first sensation I felt was bitter cold.
I was still in my heavy clan armor. That's right…
"I'm in the mountains," I said to no one. "I came to the Conclave with my clan members."
Cassandra pursed her lips. "That answers one of my questions. But you still owe me many more."
"I don't know what's going on," I hissed, getting annoyed with the questioning and pulsating in my hand and head.
"I don't believe you," Cassandra snapped back. "That thing on your arm proves you know more than you're telling us!"
At her words, I glanced down at my hand, pure horror morphing my features. I lifted my head back up and my eyes widened as I beheld the massive green tear high in the sky. It funneled upwards like a gigantic tornado. Blasts of light boomed out of the funnel. It wasn't until a burst of pain ripped through my hand–starting at my fingertips and rippling down to my wrist–that I realized what her words meant. My hand glowed with each ripple of pain until I dropped to my knees, my breath coming in short pants. The agony set my teeth on edge and I had to fight not to unleash a scream.
"What the hell is this thing?!" I shouted through the pain.
I looked up to Cassandra, my eyes pleading for answers. I found none there, just her brow twitching upward as if a question were forming on her lips.
When the pain had subsided, Cassandra helped me to my feet and said, "Let's meet the others. Then you will see."
"See what?" I panted, sweat forming on my brow despite the chill mountain air.
My boots crunched through the snow as I followed Cassandra and Leliana on unsteady legs. Panic settled in my bones with each step. Where was she taking me? How was I going to fight my way out of this? I wish I could remember what the fuck had happened!
Before long we reached a battlement and Cassandra nodded to Leliana. An unspoken conversation played between the two and Leliana went right while Cassandra led me left.
It wasn't long before Cassandra led me around a bend where no soldiers were. She brought a key to my chains and released the lock.
"Don't make me regret this," she hissed.
I rubbed at my wrist instinctively and followed her willingly. She was going to show me answers? Fine. I would tag along until I was satisfied.
I felt a little less panicked with my wrists free, but a weapon would be nice. We weren't even 100 feet into our journey when a green rip formed in the air before us. It was ethereal and yet terrifying at the same time. Light poured from the gnarly thing as it writhed in the space. I sucked in my breath as I stared into the green abyss. Cassandra drew her weapon and shield as if expecting something I wasn't.
"Stay behind me!" she shouted, charging forward valiantly as a dozen demons burst from the green light.
I stumbled back on unsure legs and heard a clunk as I kicked something metal. It skittered away from me across the ice and I chased after it. I scooped up the small knife–it looked like nothing more than a peasant's carving knife with a small blade and no hilt. The knife wasn't much, but it was better than fighting demons with my bare hands.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I adjusted my body to a fighting stance. I flexed my fingers around the handle of the knife and took in a shaky breath. Cassandra was doing a well enough job of keeping most of the demons occupied, but several were making their way to me already. I had just enough time to stab a demon in the eye socket with my makeshift weapon and dashed away to the right as the demon squealed in pain and shock.
I evened my breathing, willing my body to stay conscious as another demon zipped toward me. I slashed and hacked as my body was trained to do, but as minutes passed by, I felt bile rising in my throat. It wasn't until the last demon fell that I allowed myself to drop to my knees and vomit. My eyes swam again and the sweat on my brow cooled with a breeze.
A sword point met my neck and I lifted my head to see Cassandra glaring down at me again. "Drop your weapons."
I wiped at my mouth and croaked, "Alright. I was just trying to help."
Cassandra let loose a rough sigh before saying, "Keep them. I can't protect you and until we have our answers we need you alive."
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and rose to my feet, weapons still in hand. Cassandra removed her blade and jerked her chin for me to follow her again.
We wandered that way, neither speaking, until we came to a small clearing. I could hear shouting, but couldn't make out words. As we grew closer, however, I noticed the rift in the air shimmering above a group of fighters. Up ahead, a mage and a dwarf with a crossbow were fighting an outpouring of shades and demons. As we approached closer I could make out more details.
The mage was bald with bare feet. He wielded his staff with surprising grace and speed. It looked like he was dancing rather than blasting away shades. The dwarf had his own grace about him as he launched bolts through demons. They dealt with their patch of otherworldly creatures and then the dwarf's boots stomped through the snow as he came up beside us.
"Seeker, I see you've brought our friend."
"We have a moment to ourselves but we must end this!" the mage shouted as he jogged up to the group.
He had a dusting of freckles across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose that were surprising. However, I wasn't able to stare for long before he grabbed by hand–it was unsurprisingly cold considering the climate–and shoved it at the rip in the sky. For one panic-filled moment I thought it would hurt terribly. But the light in my hand pulsed harmlessly and the rift exploded in a fantastic display of shades of green. Then the air settled and returned to normalcy, as if there hadn't been an anomaly at all. My mind whirled with the implication as the mage dropped my hand–it swung back to my side lifelessly.
"I just…closed that. Well, the mark did," I muttered, almost to myself.
"So it did," the mage replied matter-of-factly, a slight grin parting his lips.
"How did you know that would even work?" I asked, suspicion rising in my voice.
"Solas is an apostate," Cassandra said, as if that explained everything.
Solas. That was the mage standing before me. The one with cold hands.
"If we are introducing ourselves, I'm Varric," the dwarf said. He shifted his crossbow, "and this is Bianca."
"You..named your crossbow? Why?" I asked.
Cassandra replied instead, "Varric is attached to that hunk of wood."
"Biance won't take offense to that, but I will," Varric cautioned, a jesting tone in his voice.
Either Cassandra didn't hear the joking lilt of his tone or she didn't care, but she stalked off with a sound of disgust.
"We must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes." Solas announced rather abruptly. "The rift is growing more powerful by the second."
"Bossy, aren't we, Chuckles?" Varric chastised lowly, that playful tone never leaving his voice.
"Is this who we were supposed to meet," I asked, turning to Cassandra.
"Yes," she replied with a nod. "Solas and Varric are helping with the…situation."
"Will someone tell me what is going on!?" I hissed.
"The Fade is leaking out of those rifts in the Veil. Come," Solas said calmly, his hand reaching for me. I slid my weapons back in their sheaths before looking at his outstretched hand.
Apostates were said to be dangerous, but this man didn't look like a threat He was wearing plain clothes–no armor–and it was hard to take him seriously with his feet showing in the snow. Or maybe my brain was muddled from the explosion.
"An explosion," I murmured. "I remember an explosion."
Solas didn't wait for me to take his hand. Instead, he took mine–the hand with the glowing problem–and tugged me along. "We aren't far from the site where you walked out of. Going might help with some of your memories."
I let myself be led again. Solas was much gentler than Cassandra had been. His hand warmed against mine.
"Can you tell me about my…glowing hand?" I asked. It was a question I had been dying to know.
"What would you like to know?" Solas replied without looking at me.
"It's tied to the Fade? But what is it?"
"The Breach was likely caused by that explosion you were in. Your mark exerts control over it. My guess would be that the mark was created deliberately."
"But why do I have it?"
"Now that is a good question. How you do is anyone's guess."
Behind me, Varric whistled. I looked back at him and followed his line of sight.
Below us, were roaring pockets of flames. Fleeing, desiccated bodies stood where they met their end. Hands covered heads in a futile attempt to protect themselves from the debris that must have rained down.I reflexively clenched my hands at the sight of such a horror, clutching accidentally to Solas's hand. A slight turn of his head was the only sign that he even noticed.
We followed the path with little resistance until we arrived at an area with enormous, green-veined monoliths of rock. They jutted out from the ground as if piercing the sky. The green within them glowed and I sucked in a gasp of frigid air.
What the fuck had happened here?
I followed Solas further down the winding path and slowly features began to make themselves known. I recognized the sigils as those of the Chantry–specifically of Divine Justinia. Was this the temple?
I shuddered. I was right in the middle of that explosion here at the temple. I should look like one of the many bodies around us–charred and unrecognizable. Yet, somehow, I had made it out without even a scratch. No wonder Cassandra was so sure I was responsible. My story didn't make sense, not even to me.
Leliana rounded the corner, her footsteps barely audible. "Cassandra," she said simply.
"This is your chance to end this," Cassandra stated bluntly. "Are you ready?"
Before I could open my mouth to reply, a voice boomed, "Now is the hour of our victory!"
The voice seemed to reverberate inside of my head and I could have sworn it was familiar, but no pieces clicked in my mind to link the voice with a face.
"What was that?" Cassandra demanded, her voice tinged with a line of panic.
"Oh, you heard that," I muttered, my free hand going to my heart. "I thought I had finally lost it."
Solas pursed his lips. "The Veil is thin here. The Fade is reaching out."
As we stepped further inside, however, the green-touched rock turned to solid red crystal.
"Red Lyrium," Varric murmured, for once that tone of his turning dark. His eyes gained a far away look for just a moment before snapping back, "Seeker–"
"Don't start, Varric," Cassandra warned. "I can see it."
I reached out, my free hand mere inches away from the glowing crystal. It seemed to pulsate with light but I couldn't for the life of me find out why.
Solas yanked me back at the exact moment that Varric leapt toward me.
"It's evil," Varric hissed. "Don't touch it!"
I looked appreciatively at them both and Solas seemed to drop my hand like it were made of the same red lyrium. He flexed his fingers as if they hurt and I tilted my head to the side. Such a unique reaction to hand-holding. Had I gripped him too hard?
"Keep the sacrifice still," that deep familiar voice echoed.
"Sacrifice?" Cassandra barked, as if she could demand answers from the voice.
"Someone help me!" another echoey voice cried–this one belonged to a woman.
"That is…no, it can't be. But that sounds like Divine Justinia." Cassandra's face paled before she grit her teeth.
"Someone help me!" the woman's voice called again.
"What's going on here?" Now that voice I knew. That was my voice. I sounded as confused there as I was now.
"Run while you can!" the woman screamed.
The voices turned into a full-fledged vision before us. A shadowy figure–they didn't look entirely human–loomed above and the dark voice came again, "We have an intruder. Slay the elf."
Oh. That didn't bode well for me.
I must have walked in on something I shouldn't have. That was one of my many talents, showing up where I didn't belong and sticking my nose into things. Classic Lavellan attribute.
"That's your voice, speaking to the Divine," Leliana announced calmly. Her eyes were sharp though, as if daring me to argue.
"That is my voice. But I still don't know what happened," I insisted.
"Enough." Cassandra stomped up to me. "Leliana, ready our men."
Solas turned away from the rift he had been eyeing, "This rift is not open, but it's not sealed either. We need to reopen it–like breaking a bone to set it properly again."
"That means demons. Stand ready!" Cassandra shouted.
As if obeying Solas's command, the mark on my hand began to glow and flutter with life. I lifted the hand slowly–slightly afraid of the result, but sure it would work.
Heeding my desires, the mark burst with a ray of green and unleashed a tether that linked my body to the rip in the sky. I didn't speak a word, but the mark sensed my command as if I had and ripped the rift wide open again.
Almost immediately, a dark form burst from the rift. I sucked in a breath as two large, clawed feet hit the ground. The entire world felt like it trembled as the dark figure slowly revealed itself to be a Pride demon. Its bulky body coiled tight as it readied a strike. Large horns sprouted from its head and shook as the demon unleashed a deep belly laugh. Lightning slithered out of its clawed hands and danced across its back. I took my stance, ready to be slaughtered almost immediately. I'd faced many opponents from the mortal world, but demons were rarer and harder to kill. This massive creature before me looked nothing like I had ever faced before and I wasn't ashamed to admit that it terrified me. Still, I wasn't one to quit–a trait both good and bad depending on the day and the beholder.
I unsheathed my weapons, slowly turning the knives in my hand as my breath steadied. Taking down something this big means you have to find a weakness or you're dead. I glanced up at the tear in the sky and debated the risks of messing with it during an active battle. When a whip of lighting shot toward me, I had to throw myself backward to avoid it.
I tried to focus on the fight at hand, but my head was still pulsating with pain. I dropped to my knee, weakness coming on very quickly as another lash of lightning crashed into me. I flew backward with the force and crashed into a stone wall. My vision darkened and when I opened them again, the Pride demon was quickly gaining the upper hand. It had Cassandra pinned beneath its foot, Solas's magic was bouncing off of it harmlessly, and even Varric's tipped arrows couldn't penetrate the demon's flesh. We were losing.
Badly.
"Ah, fuck it," I hissed as I thrust out my glowing hand toward the rift.
The tear exploded with color in response, but did not close. It was like there was something holding it open.
Bad news–more demons appeared. Good news though, the gigantic Pride demon sank to the ground with a massive thud, releasing Cassandra. The warrior woman quickly recovered and was able to land one decisive blow to its neck. Black blood oozed from the wound and the creature toppled over. The other demons were much easier to dodge as I raced toward the large rift. Perhaps the demons were what was keeping the rift open?
Positioning myself under the tear, I hacked at a nearby demon, its scream fading as it dissipated into the air.
When the last demon was gone, Cassandra screamed, "Seal the rift! Do it now!"
I wasted no time and lifted my hand again, commanding it to seal the damn thing.
I don't remember anything else except the deafening silence after the Fade collapsed back in on itself.